Product Info

Platform

Switch

Publisher

Nicalis

Developer

Studio Saizensen

Series

Code of Princess

Genre

Action, Adventure, RPG

Players

1-4

File Size (Minimum)

2.9 GB

Release Date (NA)

Jul 31, 2018

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

GameStop

eShop

The 2012 Nintendo 3DS title Code of Princess makes its way to the Nintendo Switch with some gameplay and graphical enhancements and a new name: Code of Princess EX. However, while the latest version of this hack-and-slash is certainly an improvement over the original game, it feels more like a modified port rather than a full remaster.

What’s a Princess to Do?

You play as Solange Blanchefleur de Lux, the Princess of DeLuxia. When her kingdom falls at the hands of monsters and the Distron army that seeks to stop them, she takes the legendary sword DeLuxcalibur from its pedestal and sets out on a journey to save her world.

One would think a princess’s attire would be more exquisite, but in Code of Princess, it’s all about small armor pieces, showing more skin, and carrying a giant weapon. Because of the character and attire designs, Solange has been a popular character for not only the game but also for its new publisher Nicalis. Heck, she’s even on the cover for the upcoming fighting game Blade Strangers that’s set to release later this summer.

In Solange’s travels, she meets a variety of unique characters that end up joining her quest, including a one-time leader of thieves, a zombie-like sorcerer, a martial artist, a blind samurai, a money-making cat, a warrior who dresses up as a nun, and a bard who says he’s a sage. The game’s eccentric cast has equally colorful designs, and the humorous dialogue suits the characters well, even if the the story itself is a bit more serious than they would suggest. That said, don’t expect to hear English voice-overs for any of the characters like you did in the 3DS original; the Nintendo Switch version only has Japanese voice-acting, which is odd.

Fight Your Way Through

Like any arcade-style beat-em-up, you’ll navigate from one side of the screen to the other and move your character up and down the playing field. However, unlike other arcade-style games, the battlefield is fairly small, and the game forces you to defeat the enemies on screen before the stage’s boss appears. Some boss battles can be quite tedious and may require you to play open quests or play online to gain enough levels before tackling that fight again. Gaining levels will increase your character’s stats, and completing stages will reward you with new items to equip onto your character.

Each character has a set of moves that are simple enough to execute, though at times you’ll want to choose the right ones when going against aggressive enemies. You can activate “Bursts” which drain your magic gauge for additional damage, but it depletes really quick and you can’t pause it. Save these for the end and make sure to lock onto your enemy for an accurate hit.

In Campaign Mode, you can unlock over 50 characters by playing the story, but you are only able to play as specific characters in each quest. As you play through the campaign, everyone on your team gains experience for each battle won, but the catch is that only characters affiliated with the story earn those points. If you want to try out and level-up the majority of characters you’ve unlocked, that’s where the quest and online cooperative modes come in. Expect to spend a great deal of time in the quest mode since that allows you to replay the stages you’ve completed in the Campaign to earn experience points, gold, and items. Do take note that in modes outside of Campaign, only characters that fight get those points.

The hack-and-slash action can get a little hectic at times, but players who battle through the game alone won’t have much of an issue keeping tabs on their on-screen character. When there are four party members and over five enemies on the battlefield at once, however, it can be somewhat cumbersome to keep track of where you are. At least the screen follows you if you happen to be far away from your team. Typically in multiplayer arcade games, everyone shares the screen and the camera zooms out to accommodate everybody; thankfully, Code of Princess EX does not follow this pattern.

One of the biggest things the game has going for itself is the frame rate. No matter how many characters or effects appear on screen at one time, there isn’t any slowdown or choppiness. Even when playing online, the experience is mostly smooth. When a new batch of enemies appears, there may be a pause of about three-to-five seconds, depending on your connection.

Multiplayer Goodness

The Nintendo Switch version of Code of Princess EX gives you quite a few multiplayer options: local co-op, couch co-op with two controllers, and online play with 2-4 players.

The game’s internet options let you choose to cooperate with players online or fight against them. When fighting against them, you can do it for the glory of leaderboards or just for fun.

Playing online, you can set up a lobby with or without a password or join an existing one, though if you are looking to join a team, its best to start a lobby than to try to search for one. When creating a lobby and you don’t have enough people to fill the four-team roster, the game gives you the option to fill the empty slots with CPU-controlled characters.

As mentioned earlier, you shouldn’t expect many connection issues with the game, just a pause in-between enemy spawns. Just be aware that the number of characters on screen can make it somewhat difficult to keep track of your fighter.

Better Fit for Portable

Despite the visual enhancements that were made when bringing the Nintendo 3DS title to a modern home console, Code of Princess EX’s graphics and design still feel unpolished. Character 3D models are jagged, still bearing that 3DS look, and some enemy designs feel flat and underwhelming. Moreover, when playing using the Switch’s portable mode, the game looks better on the smaller screen than it does on a high-definition television, confirming that the game is still best suited visually to the handheld format.

Summary

Code of Princess EX is an entertaining beat-em-up game that is simple enough that anyone can jump in. Even though the boss battles can be tedious and the graphics aren’t as polished as they could be, it’s still an adventure of decent caliber.

Disclaimer: A digital review copy was provided by Nicalis for the Nintendo Switch.